Editing Alek Wek (section)

== Early life ==
Alek was born April 16, 1977, and she was born in [[Wau, South Sudan|Wau]], Sudan (now [[South Sudan]]), in a two-bedroom house without electricity or running water, and is the seventh of nine children.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-09-01 |title=Designs for living – Alek Wek takes fashion to the max |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/28286b74-4ad8-4a7f-82e7-a6d0048f5cb6 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/28286b74-4ad8-4a7f-82e7-a6d0048f5cb6 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2022-08-12}}</ref> Her mother Akuol (b. 1946) was a housewife, and her father Athian (1933–1985) was an education official. Her name reportedly means "Black Spotted Cow".<ref name="smileyarchive">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200708/20070830_wek.html |title=Tavis Smiley . Archives . Alek Wek . August 30, 2007 |publisher=PBS |access-date=23 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201023832/http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200708/20070830_wek.html |archive-date=1 December 2008 }}</ref>

When the [[Second Sudanese Civil War|civil war]] broke out in Wau in 1985, the Wek family had to flee from both rebel and government forces. Her father Athian once broke his hip in a bicycle accident, and his hip was repaired with metal pins. Long periods of walking caused Athian's hip to get infected, and upon the family's return to Wau, he became paralysed and endured a [[haemorrhage]]. He died at a relative's home in [[Khartoum]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-20 |title=Alek Wek on the Moments That Defined Her Trailblazing Career in Modeling |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/alek-wek-fashion-chanel-haute-couture-mcqueen-tina-turner |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref>